Speaker
1: |
[Foreign
language] |
Speaker
2: |
I
have nightmares most nights, and these nightmares wake me up. |
|
I
have been trying to forget ever since the massacre but I can't. These things
are hard to forget. |
Speaker
3: |
It
was one of the most horrendous massacres of the 20th century. Mass murder in
the heart of a capital city. Evert last detail was documented at the time,
but no one was ever punished. It began on the evening of the 16th of
September 1982. For 36 straight hours, Lebanese Christian militiamen
slaughtered unarmed civilians in Beirut's Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra
and Shatila. The militia's were ordered into the
camps by Ariel Sharon, then Israel's Defence Minister. Today it's Prime
Minister. |
|
For
the last two years, lawyer Chibli Mallat has been working with survivors including [Abdul Nasamalam] in an attempt to bring Sharon to trial in
Belgium where foreigners can be prosecuted for war crimes no matter where
they were committed. But a battle pf procedure has so far kept the case from
court. |
Speaker
4: |
This
is has obviously been a very difficult case. We had no doubt from the
beginning that we were up against one of the most powerful persons
politically on Earth, at one point during the proceedings, the Israeli
military [inaudible] broadcast an item under which it said that the Israeli
government would sever diplomatic relations with Belgium should the case go
forward. |
Speaker
3: |
Mallat and his colleagues are arguing that Sharon had command
responsibility for the massacre which took place in the fourth month of
Israelis' invasion in Lebanon against the Palestine Liberation organisation
and its headquarters in Beirut. |
Speaker
4: |
The
Israeli army surrounded the camps. It ordered the Lebanese militias to go
into the camps. It provided them with flares. It prevented anybody from going
out of the camps and this went on for three days. |
Speaker
3: |
The
exact number of dead is not known, but at least 900 people lost their lives
in the massacre. An Israeli state inquiry, the Kahan Commission found that
they died at the hands of the Lebanese forces militia, Israels
Lebanese allies. The commission said that Ariel Sharon as defence minister
hold personal responsibility. Sharon stayed in the cabinet although he
resigned as defence minister. |
Speaker
4: |
The
most traumatic dimension of the Kahan Commission is that the man found
personal responsible for this terrible massacre is not in jail. |
Speaker
3: |
On
the 20th anniversary of the massacre, hopes of justice for the people of Sabra
and Shatila hang by a thread. In June, a Belgium appeals court ruled that the
case was not admissible because Sharon was not in the country. Belgium
legislatures and the lawyers for the plaintiffs are now appealing that
decision. |
Speaker
4: |
We
will continue whatever sliver of chance there is, we will carry on to the
end. Yes, we've been let down, but are proud of our achievements and we will
go on. |
Speaker
3: |
If
the case goes forward, the prosecution will produce in court a remarkable set
of secret Israeli documents that were sent anonymously to Mallats'
colleagues in Belgium. |
Speaker
4: |
These
consist of over 400 pages of minutes of meetings between the Lebanese
militias and the Israeli secret services and the political offices including
Sharon. |
Speaker
3: |
The
documents reveal many things, 'Not a least" Mallat
says. |
Speaker
4: |
They
knew what was coming. We have a testimony from Colonel [inaudible]. He says
"It was possible to surmise from contact with the [Ferange]
leaders what were their intentions towards the Palestinians? Sabra would
become a zoo and Shatila Beiruts' parking
place." |
Speaker
3: |
Sharon
told the Kahan Commission he could not have foreseen the murderous behaviour
of the Lebanese militias. The documents suggest otherwise. |
Speaker
4: |
Sharon
himself knew. Contrary to what he's said all along that he couldn't have
predicted it. He knew. There's a meeting which is taking place with top
leaders of the militia on the fifth of July, 1982. Sharon says "It's
incumbent to prevent several ugly things which have occurred, murders, rapes
and stealing by some of your men" addressing the Lebanese militias. |
Speaker
3: |
Despite
the Lebanese forces comportment, Sharon urged them time and again to enter
the Palestinian camps. |
Speaker
4: |
Against
talking to the militia leaders, [inaudible] terrorist. "You've got to
clean the camps. Clean, cleansing, no one uses this any longer." It is
the language of genocide. |
Speaker
3: |
20
years after the massacre, the inhabitants of the camps are still scarred by
the experience. Depression, anxiety and aggression are common place. Dr. Jamal [Haffiz], a
psychiatrist who specialises in war trauma has found that no one is
unaffected. Even those who were born after the massacre. Abdul Nasamalam is Lebanese, but lived in Sabra. |
Speaker
1: |
[foreign
language]. |
Speaker
3: |
Since
losing his brother and 12 friends in the massacre, he says he's become
aggressive even towards his own children. |
Speaker
1: |
[foreign
language]. |
Speaker
2: |
I
don't treat them like children. I treat them like grown
ups. If they make a mistake, I punish severely. I don't want
psychiatric treatment. I don't want medicines. The treatment I want is
punishment for the criminals and then I'll be able to lead a normal life. |
Speaker
3: |
These
children in Shatila were born after the massacre, but the martyrs of Sabra
and Shatila are part in parcel of their lives. They occupy a unique place in
the role call of [Palestinian] dead down the years. |
Speaker
6: |
[foreign
language]. |
Speaker
7: |
I
can't imagine that anyone can forget something like this. Anyone who keeps
silent is the devil. This generation is a generation of nationals, all of us.
Long ago an Israeli president said "Palestinians must be uprooted and
the next generation would forget Palestine." He was wrong. We will fight
for our land, our rights and our dignity. |
Speaker
3: |
Dr. Haffiz, french
trained psychiatrist believes the continued suffering of the Palestinians of
Sabra and Shatila both ill for the future. He believes that the collapse of
the case in Belgium would give new impetus to Palestinian militancy. |
Dr. Haffiz: |
[French
language]. |
Speaker
9: |
I
was really shocked. I really did not think that I would find people suffering
so after 20 years. Suffering as if it were yesterday. It's shocking and it's
painful. You feel the anxiety, the anguish, the hatred, the desire for
justice. There is no justice. It is my belief that the next generation will
be filled with an uncontrollable hatred. |
Speaker
3: |
For
the first time in 20 years, the people of these wretched camps are daring to
hope that their dead will be avenged. They hope they will be able to tell
their children there is a punishment for every crime. Revenge and terror are
not the only avenues open to the Palestinian people. |